Once Upon a Rose Princess
by Tsuki KamiNeko
Summary: The battle has begun as Anis and her Rhode Knights go against Cinderella and her fake Knights as they race to find the Arcana Cards... Along the way will new blooms of Rose Buds appear?


A New Bloom - - - - x

Anis struggled not to die from the utter embarrassment that was the first awakening. Of all the Rhode Knights, it had to be Tenjou Mitsuru. God forbid, now he thinks they're destined to be together forever. Just the image of Tenjou pressing so close to her gave her the chills- the way he's so creepy and so impersonal with his space scares her still. Anis shook her head and slapped herself lightly as she walked down the hallway to her classroom in a daze.

Tenjou and Mistuki were once again not in class… And this worried her. What she saw at Tenjou's house made her heart ache for some reason. Seeing one her Roses act almost slave-like and so dead made her wonder. What was really going on inside the White Rose's home? They never did find the door that Tenjou was talking about, the one that Kaede assumed held something humiliating didn't seem like the reason why Tenjou wanted it hidden. Anis felt that both her Knights were hiding a secret that was far more sinister than she could imagine. She was scared that the day she figures it out, it'd break the bond that held the group together. It saddened her to know that her Knights would hide something from her. She was after all their Domina right?

A sudden tap to her head made her look up and gaze into Kaede's amethyst eyes, eyes that were too honest for her that she felt like he could look into her very soul, which frightened her. It was like this every time… He took her breath away with his eyes.

"Oy, stop daydreaming already, will ya? You're gonna end up hitting the lockers," he pointed out as he pulled her away. Anis laughed hesitantly and scratched her head, "Hey, you all right? You seemed more dazed than usual," Kaede asked out of concern, "Was this about sneaking into Tenjou's place last week?" Anis' lips faltered as she looked to the ground. The way she looked made Kaede want to hold her even more, to cheer her up. Seeing her so down made him uncomfortable, because it wasn't like her. He wanted to see Anis' happy-go-lucky personality, the always-determined flare in her eyes and the smile that seemed to always bring forth happiness.

"Kaede?" she mumbled softly still looking at the ground with her uneasy eyes, "Can I ask you something?"

Kaede tilted his head at this unfamiliar Anis. Anis was rarely so humble, "What is it? As long as it's not going back Tenjou's place and acting as his butler. He's got me carrying some weird ass shit for him. That bastard," Kaede sighed thinking back to the statue he shattered. A sudden veil of evil feelings descended upon him. "Next time I see Tenjou, he's gonna get it," he mumbled with a sinister grin.

"Kaede!" Anis pouted at him with her fists at her side, "I'm still worried about them and I saw something freaky when I was there-!" Anis quickly closed her mouth with her hands as Kaede stared at her quizzically. She remembered the weird question that Tenjou asked of her and the favor of not bringing up what she saw came to mind, "Never mind that… Do remember that night when I summoned you to my house?" she asked innocently.

Kaede's face suddenly felt hot, "Um… Yeah," it wasn't exactly easy to forget being summoned half naked to a girl's empty apartment. He still had her jacket folded neatly in his room.

"Do you remember what you told me that night?" she asked looking out the window with a small sigh. Kaede raised a brow at her as words vaguely permeated through his memories. At first he didn't know why she had summoned him of all knights, he'd just thought it was by accident or a cruel joke. Especially since he just got out of the bath too and made him stand in the freezing cold. But then he realized that she was really down in the dumps. It seemed like the whole situation with the Yellow Rose, Haruto, and the Rosette Contract really bothered her and she just needed someone to talk to, to reassure her worries.

"If you ever get lonely, just call me, I'll always be there for you," he recited almost as if on cue. Anis turned and smiled at him, genuinely but at the same time with a hint of sadness. "Anis, I…" he stuttered. He felt a familiar sudden urge to hold her; almost like _**last**_ time when he wanted to explain to her about his feelings for her but was interrupted by both Mitsuki and Tenjou. He was close enough to her that he got a good whiff of her and damn did she smell amazing. It was just so _tempting_. He just smiled gently and pushed her unruly hair away from her eyes, "Anis, I will be by your side no matter what happens." _And not just because I'm your Knight_…

Anis grinned and patted him on the shoulder, "Thanks, Kaede," she said softly, "C'mon, we're going to be late for class if we keep stalling!" she called out as she began to run in the direction of their science class. Anis rounded the corner of the hall and stopped to catch her breath as she slid to the floor. She hid her burning face in her hands. _What the heck was that back there?!_ Her face was turning bright red as the heat rose from her neck to the entirety of her face. He was so close to her and whispering such intimate words into her ears too! How dared he! If it weren't for the fact that they were in the halls she would fetch her thorns at him! But still, why is her heart racing so fast for him?

Kaede faltered as he watched Anis disappear around the hall. He sighed and scratched his messy dark auburn hair, ""Geez, what's her problem? She asked and I answered. Then she goes running off without another word," he muttered under his breath. "She's such a handful sometimes," deciding to finally make his way to class when a small voice interrupted him from behind.

"You alright there, Kaede?" a small voice came from behind him, "Did you and Anis argue again?" Kaede turned around and saw a very petite girl standing before him. She had soft pink curls flowing from her shoulders and fell around her pale face. He would say her hair was a shade lighter than Anis', almost a strawberry blonde. Her eyes sparkled a soft shade of mahogany that almost looked red in the sunlight that was surrounded by thick long lashes. She had these small full lips that seemed like they were pouting at him as he tried to recall her name, but to the best of his efforts he just couldn't remember.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? How'd you know our names?" Kaede inquired cautiously, suspicious of her already. After all that's happened to him and the remainder of Higari's strange words at the amusement park had him at high alert with strangers.

"Please don't be alarmed, I only know of you through Tenjou Mitsuru. We're on the Student Council together," she reassured her him with a small chuckle. "I just thought I heard some loud voices coming from the hallway and thought I'd come check it out. I'm Horie Shizuka, a third year and secretary of the Student Council," she greeted with her hand extended to him, "It's nice to finally meet you, Kaede." she smiled.

Kaede shook her hand they were so small against his. He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Does Tenjou actually talk about me?" he asked. Though he was pretty sure it was pretty much bullshit whatever it was.

Shizuka smiled lightly and laughed airily, traces of it sounding like soft bells echoing in the wind, "You mean the garbage that comes out of that pig's mouth? Hardly ever, though he's always talking about Anis and making us listen to his absurd fantasies he has of her. Poor girl," she said with an expression all too scary. For a girl that worked along side the president of the Student Council, she was pretty harsh, but honest, with her words about Tenjou. Kaede could feel the rage coming off of her like a jet stream of radiation although she was still smiling so innocently. It didn't surprise Kaede that both men and women of this establishment knew Tenjou's pervy fetishes. It just embarrassed him even more to be acquainted with Tenjou and his crazy and flirty antics. It seemed like she was also a victim. "You better get to class, Kaede, or else you'll be late and I'll have to report you to your teacher," Shizuka grinned giving him a push.

Kaede looked up at the clock and gritted his teeth, "Oh shit, class," with a sigh he turned and started jogging down the hall towards the science lab, but before he turned the corner he waved and gave Shizuka a smile, "It was nice meeting you, Shizuka."

Shizuka smiled to herself as she watched Kaede jog around the corner, she bit her lower lip before letting herself sigh, "And you, my sweet Red Rose," she brushed a strand of loose hair from her eyes as she shifted her image from her human look. In her actual form she now wore a pearl white kimono tied with a soft pink obi, the bottom flowed endlessly around her like a pool of water as pink rose petals fluttered silently around her. In her hands she held a long styx. A soft jingle echoed from the small bells that hung from her hair adornments. A second later, she shifted back to her school uniform form.

"What do you think you're doing? You know the Red Rose is mine!" a female voice cut itself through the silence of the corridor. Higari Mikage stepped forward from the shadows and stared at Shizuka with her hands clenched at her side, almost as if in anger. Shizuka giggled and glanced over her shoulder, a look that cold freeze even hell over.

"Oh my, my, my, my, my," Shizuka tsked lifting a finger to her lips, "Did daddy let you out to play? Hmm?" she taunted with a pout.

_Has Cinderella come out to play tonight?_

_Or is she still sitting by the stove with all her might_

_Waiting for her prince to whisk her away._

_My, my what a waste. my fake Domina._

Ella, also known as Higari Mikage in human form, now gritted her teeth in anger, her image shifting between that of her real form and her Mikage form, "Don't you dare call me a fake! I'm as real as that stupid tramp that calls herself the real Dominion over the Rhode Knights! I'm going to take them all one by one! Starting off with the precious Red Rose, Kaede. I'm going to take everything that belongs to her!" Ella stated with a stomp of her foot and scythe in hand. "And you!" She pointed her weapon at Shizuka, as her Gray Knight appeared next to her, "I better not see you poking your nose around the real Rose Princess She's mine to kill. You've been warned, _**Pink Rose**_." Ella glowered one more time before disappearing into the shadows again.

Shizuka furrowed her brows and sighed, "Oh dear, that temper of hers," she shook her head in disappointment, "But we'll see, fake Domina. Just who will win this war for the Arcana Cards? The real Rose Princess of the Rosette Contract or the Fake Dominion and her fake Knights?" Shizuka smiled mystically before staring into the shadows where Ella and Gray once stood just moments before, "We'll just have to see," she grinned.


End file.
